Lots of very cool shows happening this weekend for Halloween. On Halloween,Zola Jesusis playing at the Echoplex and Abe Vigoda is playing Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, with DJ sets from Air France and The Field. The day before, on Oct. 30, Tijuana Panthers take the stage at the Ukrainian Cultural Center with fellow garage rockers The Soft Pack, Thee Oh Sees and Total Control. Three-piece Tijuana Panthers, with drummer Phil Shaheen, guitarist Chad Wachtel and bassist Daniel Michicoff, play a kind of punk-influenced surf rock that shows the line from The Ventures to The Buzzcocks to Jay Reatard is a short one indeed, seamlessly combinging straightforward, clean-but-not-clean-cut guitars, alternatingly bratty and crooning vocals and old school rock-combo rhythms — check out their gorgeously bummed out "Summer Fun" below for a fine example of what they do. I took a minute to talk to Shaheen about their sound.

PST: Are you guys working on new songs yet? If so, how is the sound shaping up?

Shaheen: Yeah, we have steadily been coming up with new ones, playing them live at shows and then recording them. They shape up well this way, playing them live then recording has always helped us to tight'n them up. Just need to record a few more next week and we should be on our way.

PST: Are you guys surprised at all by the recent resurgence of bands playing garage rock and surf rock?

Shaheen: No, not really. It seems to come in waves, this one seems a lot larger.

PST: Do you guys mind at all getting lumped in with other bands that play that kind of music? I could see it being frustrating, but also there seems to be a camaraderie among bands like you guys, Audacity and Ty Segall.

Shaheen: Yeah there's not a perfect fit for us there but, we get along pretty well with all those bands. Joe Walters from the Redwood Bar use to call us “Barbershop Surfpop,” I always liked that.

PST: One thing I feel like sets you guys apart is your vocals. They’re really great, I love that they're spread out among the members and that they’re often nice and croony, rather than full on garage all the time. Is that something you guys consciously tried to do, make sure the vocals actually sounded like real singing?

Shaheen: Yes. We have always kept it pretty clean for the most part. Chad croons, I whine, Daniel croons and whines.

PST: I lived in Long Beach for years, and I love that you guys represent it so well. It definitely captures the place somehow, although I can’t quite put my finger on how. If there’s a sound to Long Beach that you guys help embody, what do you think that is?

Shaheen: Long Beach has always had a pretty steady stew of counter culture, it's a port city. Maybe we rep a little piece of that.

PST: Do you have any favorite venues to play?

Shaheen: Shows that FYF put on are always rad, where ever they may be. It’s great getting to play these halls like the old timers use to.

PST: What's the craziest thing you’ve seen at one of your shows?

Shaheen: We got to play with The Dead Milkmen at Alex's Bar in Long Beach. Seeing those guys in person was really crazy and the fact that we got to play with them blew my mind. I still can't believe that went down.

PST: Stock question, but what bands did you guys bond over, and who are some artists people might not expect you guys to be into?

There's a ton of great music out to there to compile your own personal beach mix-tape style compilation soundtrack for a summer's day down at the shore - songs like the Embers' beach music classic "I Love Beach Music" or the Beach Boys' "Surfin USA." Below are a bunch of randomly chosen videos of songs for the beach (most of them - not all - shot down at the beach) including the aforementioned Beach Boys at a later career stage when they teamed up in the 80's with the Fat Boys for a rock/rap version of "Wipeout."

Also below are LA's brilliant Surf Punks and their song "My Beach" which had several video versions including the one in the 1982 music documentary Urgh! A Music War. The one below is the video that was shot a bit later in 1983 for the KABC Los Angeles' video show "Goodnight L.A." Other videos below include Swedish duo Air France's "Beach Party" (although only a small part shot at the beach), Washington DC's Slickee Boys' 1983 summer anthem "When I Go To The Beach," The Wavves' "King of the Beach" (unofficial fan made video by YouTuber CuppinNuggets), and one of two video versions of "Boys On The Beach" by UK satirical fictional (but very entertaining) rap character MC Devvo.

The Embers "I Love Beach Music"

I've also included the video for NorCal group the Surf MCs who were signed to Profile Records for a minute back in the 80's and marketed as a rap/rock surf/skater ensemble. This song and video, which could fall under the so-bad-its-good category, came out in 1987 and the video, while not shot at the actual beach, conveys the feeling of being down at the beach on a summer's day like today.

My love for Sweden just continues to grow this year. I really might need to go move there. I will wait and see how this election turns out first. I am keeping my fingers crossed and I just know election day is going to be a crazy exciting day. I am putting some faith in the American people that they will see how crazy this Palin lady is... So hopefully I will stay in this country, but Sweden might be the place to go if I need to. The music there just keeps impressing me. Air Francefrom Gothenburg, Sweden have just put out a new EP called "No Way Down." It is on the label Sincerely Yours, which also put out the great album by The Tough Alliance. The Tough Alliance is getting some domestic love soon and will hopefully reach a wider audience. Gothenburg is the home of many of my recent favorites -- in addition to The Tough Alliance and Air France, Jens Lekman, Studio, The Electric Pop Group, and Love Is All live there. I might just have to investigate all the other bands from Gothenburg that I have not heard yet. My new favorite band might just be hiding in there, waiting for me to finally discover.

This new Air France EP is brilliant, but it is not the kind of album that will hit you in the face right away. It is sort of mellow and pretty. In their very short Wikipedia description they are described as "post-rave bliss, beach foam pop, and balearic disco." I might have to update this definition a bit, but it does sort of make sense. It reminds me of some of the tracks on the Studio album. You need to turn the songs up a bit to fully experience them. Headphones are always best for this type of music, or the privacy of your own car if you live in Los Angeles. The songs make you feel like you are floating or dreaming. Albums like these should really be used for therapy. This EP includes six short songs. They will satisfy me for a bit but I know I will want more soon. A complete album will hopefully not be that far away. The album is sort of a combination of an Orb or Future Sound of London album combined with some band like Saint Etienne or The Pale Saints. Some of the songs are just instrumental dancey mellow tracks while others are British 90's pop kind of songs over more dancey beats. Don't be surprised to hear some bird sounds and random samples throughout the album. This is what probably makes it sound a bit beach like, but not day time surf style beachy -- more like the beach music you would hear at sunset or in the middle of the night.